FOCUSING on clubs, schools and development squads is helping improve Cork football, insists All-Ireland-winning minor manager Keith Ricken.

BY TOM LYONS

After a brilliant season that saw Cork crowned All-Ireland and Munster minor champions, it shone a positive light on the work being done on the ground.

Ricken believes that progressing football in Cork must have a three-tier approach: the club, the schools and the county squads.

Catering for all three is key if you want success, the experienced manager says.

‘The club is where it’s really happening,’ Ricken said.

‘You’re not guaranteed to be on the team because you’re on the squad at U16. All that does is give you extra coaching, which is good. It’s your form with your club that really counts.

‘And you also have the schools, where a huge amount of work is going on. People think we’re way behind Kerry in the schools but that’s not true. The problem is that in a huge county like Cork we have a load of schools playing our games but in Kerry they have a few schools that specialise in football.

‘We can counter that by concentrating on the three pillars: the squads, the clubs and the schools, all playing a vital part. There’s a lot of joined-up thinking now in Cork and we will be seeing the benefits of that.’

Ricken is a vastly experienced manager, having previously led Cork to All-Ireland U20 glory in 2019 before a brief stint as Cork senior manager. His ability to connect with young footballers is seen as one of his greatest strengths.

‘A 17-year-old now has different needs, and a different experience of the world than we did,’ Ricken said.

‘You just have to cater for that if you want to connect with them.

‘This year, and even last year, the lads bought into what we were doing and that was vital. A lot of things went well for us, we were lucky with injuries and we had a very talented team.

‘We learned a lot from last year, both what we were doing and what the players were doing. There was great communication between the players and the management. Now when the players are on the pitch, they can’t really hear you but we had some massive leaders on the pitch who were able to react to things going wrong and do something about it. They really showed that in the final.’

Having experienced players on the team from the previous season was vital to Cork’s success, but Ricken pointed out that two-year minors are now a rarity under the new U17 rules.

‘It was vital that we had players on the team who were there last year,’ Ricken said.

‘Under the old minor system, you’d have a good mixture of 17- and 18-year-olds but now it’s very hard to be a Cork minor for two years and there’s a huge gap between being a good 16-year-old and a good 17-year-old.

Those players, like Tom Whooley and Rory Twohig, had been through it last season and knew what was needed. They were real leaders on the pitch this season. Maybe there’s a strong case for returning minors to U18 in the future.’